Worn automotive tires present a major disposal problem; and many solutions have been advanced for the disposal of such tires. Thus, the use of such tires in animal running surfaces (U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,936), the building of houses (U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,253), and in decomposition processes (U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,083) has been suggested. The disclosure of each of these United States patents is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
One of the most practical alternatives for the disposal of old tires is to use them in sanitary landfills as a drainage medium. Relatively large volumes of the tires may be used in this application (upwards of 1,000,000 tires per acre), and relatively little processing is required to prepare the tires for such use.
Sanitary landfills must be designed in compliance with State and Federal regulations. In New York State, the required design consists of alternating layers of low permeability soil and geomembranes with drainage layers of sand, stone, or geosynthetics to allow leachate to flow to sumps for removal and treatment. Immediately beneath the refuse a primary drainage blanket, which usually consists of from 6 to 48 inches of stone, is required.
It would be desirable to be able to replace at least a portion of the layer of stone with tire chips. The stone is relatively expensive, and landfill operators are often paid to dispose of tires.
The extent to which the tire chips will adequately function in the landfill depends upon several factors, including the nature of the wastes deposited in the landfill and the thickness of fill deposited over the layer of tire chips. A layer of tire chips which might be suitable in one application and/or at one pressure might be unsuitable in another application and/or at another pressure. Furthermore, even though one type of tire chips might be suitable in a particular application, another type might not.
It is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus adapted to determine the suitability of any tire chip material for a particular landfill and a particular location within such landfill.